Shiver
by asuklangly
Summary: When faced with a possibly lonely summer as most of their friends leave for vacation, Nozomi and Eli take it upon themselves to keep each other company.


**A** **uthor's Note:** This is a rewrite! This is still the same story, which is why I didn't delete Shiver altogether. The relationships are still the same, the only difference from this version and the original is that there won't be a bunch of unnecessary filler. This version takes place at the start of summer break, rather than the middle of winter, and the plan/plot is still the same: nozoeli summer vacation party extravaganza 2k16. I also despised the pacing of the original, and that made it so that I didn't even want to continue the story, but I loved this fic idea and I really want to finish it, so I started over.

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This chapter is kind of short, but that's also because I wanted to get this message out before I wrote too much.

Thank you all for reading and sticking with me for so long! I hope to update regularly now!

The last day of school before the official start of summer vacation was always a buzz, mostly because students got to brag about the expensive vacations they were sure to go on and most of them left school before the day was over. Nozomi wasn't so quick to leave as the others, though, as living alone in a relatively small apartment meant for long bouts of time alone for the season. Nico was going on about the ski trip that her and Maki would be leaving for in just a few days while said girl picked at her salad. "Well, you aren't all staying here for the summer, are you?" Nico smirked.

"Rin and I were actually planning a trip to the beach," Hanayo called from further down the table.

"Kotori's going overseas! She's going to Italy or something like that," Honoka enthused.

"I'll be in France for most of our break."

"Lucky strike," Nico grumbled.

"I'm literally taking you to an exclusive ski lodge," Maki glared at the girl.

"Nozomi, do you have any plans?" Umi asked.

"Not exactly."

"She has none," Nico said, loudly.

"I don't either," Eli said, trying to help.

"Good, because someone's going to make sure she leaves the house. I swear on my singing lessons that Nozomi didn't leave the house for three weeks last year," Nico laughed.

"Do you think I could try that?" Honoka wondered quietly.

"No you can't" Umi shut down her idea before her plan could start forming.

The girls fell into smaller conversations as they began to actually eat their lunch. Nozomi slowly chewed on her slice of pizza as Nico and Maki began to argue over "proper snow attire" and "what would happen if they were snowed-in". Eli nudged her in the side, "I'm stuck house sitting while my family goes to Russia to go visit some of my relatives."

"Sounds like a bummer."

Eli stared at the girl, unsure how to respond. An enthused Honoka gathered the attention of the group by tapping her plastic fork against the table. She stood up with a smile, "Umi's throwing an end of the year party!"

"It's a get-together."

"She has a very large swimming pool and a hot tub."

"It is a moderately sized swimming pool."

"You're all invited, be at her house at 9 pm, because you need time to pre-game, I understand."

"Do not show up to my house intoxicated, and I want you to arrive at 5 pm."

"If you don't show up with a swim suit, then be prepared to go skinny dipping."

"Nobody will be getting naked at my house."

"What a shame," Nozomi snorted.

"Question: who will be cooking?" Hanayo asked.

"Honoka has been deemed dangerous around knives and will be preparing an array of sweets."

Contented nods and some smiles were shared, the anticipation for the night growing.

XXX

Nozomi sat with her legs dangling in the water, watching the ongoing battle between Honoka and Nico. Umi kept a neutral expression as she balanced Honoka atop her shoulders, who was resorting to the dirty tactic of attempting to pull the string of Nico's bikini top. Maki seemed strained while Nico looked moments away from throwing punches to keep above the water. Hanayo stood by the table that held various trays and bowls of snacks, seemingly lost in thought, or maybe just overwhelmed by the amount of choices. Kotori sat on a lounge chair next to Tsubasa, nodding every few moments as the girl seemed to be telling her a story. The only people that seemed to be paying attention to the battle in the pool were Eli and Rin. Rin was to be tugging on the other girl's arm, who was simply trying to lay down on the lounge chair. Nozomi snorted when Eli's resolve crumbled and allowed herself to be dragged to the water.

Oh how the game was changed as Eli sank into the water. Nozomi's initial thought was, "Please don't break her neck" as Rin excitedly crawled atop her shoulders, but that thought quickly changed to "Please don't break Nico's neck". Eli's height gave Rin the advantage of a couple of inches over Honoka and Nico, which she used to her full advantage as she tried to wrap Honoka into a headlock. The combined screams of Nico and Honoka grabbed Kotori's attention, whose face contorted with worry, causing Tsubasa to watch as well. Eli was less focused on the girl on her shoulders as she smirked at Maki and Umi, who struggled even more than earlier to be the winning team. A well aimed blow to the chest knocked Nico too far back to save, tipping her and Maki under the water. Nozomi laughed as Nico resurfaced, screeching profanity at Maki, rather than the foe that had booted her from her seat. The two girls waded over to Nozomi, both panting from the adrenaline rush. The various shouts of "Aha" and "You fool" came with splashes in the background as Nico pulled herself up to sit next to Nozomi while Maki resigned to rest her arms on the side of the pool. Neither girl looked ready to say anything, so Nozomi turned her attention back to the ongoing battle. Umi and Eli seemed to be playing what could only be called a game of footsie underwater, while Honoka and Rin were at an almost standstill with their hands grabbing the others shoulders. Nico spoke with her obvious sore loser tone, "They both had an unfair advantage, Umi and Eli are both taller than _someone_ I know."

"Nico, you're 5"2 at best," Nozomi smirked.

"Well, they're both muscular, strong, cooler, and-"

"Geez, Nozomi, don't you just love how athletic Rin is, and how much funnier she is than Nico? Oh, and how Honoka gives the best pep talks, has a better personality than Nico, and how I totally would date her if she'd let me," Maki said, pointedly.

"Yeah, well, you're ugly," Nico shouted before Nozomi got to say anything.

Nozomi just sighed as she tuned out their arguing, as she had so many times before, choosing to focus on Eli's determined look and, as Nico had pointed out, her muscular body. Rin's legs switched from wrapped around Eli's neck as she tucked them under the girl's arms, creating what looked like a very uncomfortable position, but gave Eli free reign of at least one arm. If Umi and Honoka had any sense, they wouldn't attempt to match their tactic, everyone knew Rin's legs were sculpted from a combination of track and whatever sport she could get into at the community center. Eli began slapping at Umi's face, the other girl powerless to stop the attack. Nozomi felt laughter bubble up inside her at the expression on Umi's face, which looked to be a cross of rage and humiliation. Nozomi's laughter turned to full on snort laughter when Honoka tried to bend down to slap Eli's hands away from her mount, only causing her to tumble head first into her chest, knocking all four girls into the water.

Honoka resurfaced with a yell, immediately trying to duck Rin's head back underwater. Eli was too busy trying to brush hair out of her eyes to notice Umi heading for a full body tackle. Eli let out a loud squeak before she plummeted under the water. Nico and Maki were not about to pass up a chance at revenge, Nico laughing as she slid back into the pool.

Nozomi watched the splash war with some interest before it became repetitive, urging her to approach Kotori and Tsubasa. She slid her legs out and pushed herself up, groaning with the effort caused by the stiffness of not moving for a while. Nozomi smiled as she sat down in between the two lounge chairs the girls were laying on, prompting a "Hello, Nozomi," from Kotori. Nozomi tipped her head in response and turned to Tsubasa. Tsubasa. was relatively new to their friend group, this being the first time she had been invited to a get-together that they were all attending. They didn't share any classes, but she had seen the girl walking alongside Honoka in the hallway sometimes. "Hello, I don't think I've gotten a chance to talk to you, but you must be Nozomi," Tsubasa. smiled.

"That's me, but can I ask how you know that?"

"Oh, Honoka described you pretty vividly."

 _I probably don't want to know what that means,_ Nozomi thought. _She seems more like she would get along with Eli and Umi better than Kotori, though_. Kotori took the pause in the conversation to fill her in, "Tsubasa. was just asking me if they," she gestured to the pool, "do this every time we do this".

"Rin, Honoka and Nico do, but Nico tends to drag Maki into their fights. Eli and Umi generally mind their business."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I know who everyone is."

"Nico is the short one, Eli's the only natural blonde I know, Maki has the weird eyes and Umi is the one with the deep voice."

"Okay, I got it now."

Before they could say anything else, the sound of someone dragging themselves out of the pool caught their attention. Eli padded up to Nozomi and stood over her, dripping water onto her head. "How is everyone?", Eli dropped down, "I can't believe what a good time I'm having," she encircled Nozomi in her arms, "I better get back to the pool,". Eli suddenly lifted Nozomi, causing her to shriek as Eli dropped the both of them into the water. Nozomi gasped as she hit the water, causing her to swallow a mouthful of water. Eli was laughing when she managed to stop coughing, which she should have been angry, but who could get angry with Eli when she was having such a good time?

XXX

Nozomi leaned against Eli, exhausted. She was close to dozing off, sitting with a towel around her shoulders as she barely registered the conversation going on. Like she had predicted earlier, Tsubasa. got along great with Umi and Eli, causing the current socialization circle. Eli nudged her, causing Nozomi to sit up straight as Umi smiled, "Honoka, Rin, Tsubasa. and I were planning on playing volleyball later this week. Do you two think you could make it?"

"I don't have any plans," Eli replied.

"I don't have any plans for the rest of the summer," Nozomi yawned.

"Alright, we're planning on being at the park next Wednesday," Umi prompted.

"You can count us in," Eli said.

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Thank you for reading! I plan on the other chapters being longer than this!


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